Argument lands couple in jail on theft charges

A domestic dispute landed both an Indiana man and his girlfriend in jail on theft charges last week.

Jeffery Scott Welch, 34, of Angola, Ind., and Alice Woodward, 36, of Fremont, Ind., were arrested on Tuesday, June 26, after it was determined that amid an investigation into a domestic dispute that they were driving a stolen vehicle.

According to warrants filed by Oneida Police Department Patrolman Chad Jones, the investigation began after a 911 caller reported hearing a woman screaming near Holly Hill Road. Jones wrote that he encountered a woman walking at the Independent Herald parking lot nearby, but she told him she had heard nothing and was okay.

Moments later, Jones spotted a man walking north on Alberta Street. The man reportedly told Jones that he had gotten into an argument with his fiancé at Bethlehem Baptist Church and that the argument “did get loud.”

Jones, along with fellow officers Aaron Johnson and Dustin Burke, transported the couple back to the church parking lot, where their truck was located. However, a routine check of the truck’s VIN revealed that it had been reported stolen in Indiana.

Meanwhile, OPD’s K-9 alerted on the truck, and officers allegedly found multiple items of drug paraphernalia inside, including a marijuana pipe, a meth pipe, a scale, three butane lighters, small resale baggies and a mirror with drug residue on it. Officers allegedly found multiple open containers of beer inside the vehicle, as well.

Welch had allegedly already admitted to officers that he had drank five beers in the past hour. Woodward allegedly failed a field sobriety test, as well.

Both Woodward and Welch were charged with felony theft over $10,000, use of a stolen plate, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, eight counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and violation of the open container law.